As Nato secretary general, Rasmussen is responsible for the actions of this organisation which has attacked an unarmed people, killing 1,108 civilians and wounding 4,537 others in bombardment of Tripoli and other cities and villages.

"Secret police"—is doubly misleading when applied to Syria's cops. In democratic countries the word "police" connotes personnel who, whether in uniforms or plainclothes, enforce laws and are themselves held accountable to the justice system. Syrians' enforcers are known as the "Mukhabarat," a catch-all term uttered only in hushed tones, which encompasses a multitude of agencies with responsibilities like "political security" or "internal security." In Bashar al-Assad's Syria, the Mukhabarat are nothing less than a professional bureaucracy specializing in the production and dissemination of fear.

The Mukhabarat's agents are everywhere, inescapable in their unofficial uniform of black leather jackets and dress pants. That they are easily recognizable points to the second misleading aspect of describing them as "secret police": Much of the power of the Mukhabarat lies not in its secrecy, but in its visibility.

Egypt

The military's policy shift came as a public occupation of Cairo's Tahrir Square entered its sixth day and other protests continued to erupt across the country. On Wednesday, the Mogamma building, Egypt's administrative nerve centre, finally reopened after having been shut for days due to the ongoing sit-in. However roads around Tahrir are still closed off and under the control of protesters, while security forces remain nowhere to be seen.

• The Arabist blog has a useful "cheat sheet" on the concessions so far promised including the sacking of 600 police officer, the delay in the elections, a cabinet reshuffle, and the appointed of judges to try former regime officials in televised court proceedings. He points out that the concessions only addresses some of the protesters concerns, but it certainly shows that protests are still paying off".

Bahrain

Ayat al-Gormezi was greeted by cheering crowds in her neighbourhood near Hamad town outside the capital after her unexpected release.

Her family say they are delighted that she is free although they are worried about her future. They fear that she might be re-arrested, as she has not been pardoned and her release was not the result of an appeal against her one-year sentence.

At the height of the pro-democracy protests in Pearl Square in February, Ayat had recited a poem addressed to King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa that included the lines: "We will kill humiliation and assassinate misery. Don't you hear their cries? Don't you hear their screams?"

9.41am: Film crews from both the BBC and CNN came under fire from Gaddafi's forces when they tried reporting on the fighting in Qawalish, in the western Libyan mountains, yesterday.

If there was an intention of breaching the rules that we are determined to implement, we would apply what the US applies... which is not allowing a certain ambassador or an embassy member to exceed 25km from their work headquarters based on the principle of reciprocity.

10.53am: Human Rights Watch has called for the immediate release of an Islamic scholar who was arrested in Saudi Arabia last week after criticising the government in a video message.

Dr. Yusuf al-Ahmad was detained without charge a day after criticising the long-term detention of security suspects without charge.

Activists have put together this subtitled version of his remarks.

"It's not fair to arrest and throw them in storage jails as if they are food in a refrigerator" al-Ahmad said.

The Saudi Interior Ministry seems intent on arresting every last critic standing Now it's put behind bars a prominent cleric, apparently just because he dared to criticize the government's policy of arbitrarily detaining people without any sort of judicial process.

Most of Yemen's commercial banks have ceased all activities and many employees have been laid off, due to the deteriorating situation in the country. Several bank owners complained of large cash withdrawals which may prevent banks from continuing to conduct their daily business activities.

Dr. Munir Aeriqi, former President of a Yemeni government bank, said that "all commercial banks have been negatively affected by the deteriorating economic, political and security situation experienced by the country since the beginning of February."

Aeriqi confirms that banks suffering from large withdrawals may collapse and notes that liquidity is scarce. Dozens of banks are carrying out measures to ease monetary withdrawals such as reducing official working hours and initiating electricity interruptions.

The Libyan prime minister in Tripoli told me: 'If the rebels occupy the city, we will cover it with missiles and blow it up'. I believe that the Gaddafi regime does have such a suicidal plan.

Gaddafi has not yet used a single surface-to-surface missile, while he has more than enough of them. This raises doubts that the [Gaddafi] regime is running out of arms... but he has quite enough missiles and explosives.

Scores of fighters manned defensive positions throughout Qawalish on Thursday, supported by trucks with heavy machine guns mounted on the back.

That was in contrast to the light defences in place on Wednesday morning when forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi quickly overran the village.

"We came yesterday and we stayed here and we said we are not moving until the place is secure," said one rebel fighter who was manning a machine gun and gave his name as Tommy. "This mistake is not going to happen again. We're not going home."

Control of Qawalish is strategically important because it allows the rebels to come down from their mountain stronghold and move towards the town of Garyan, which controls access to the main highway leading north to Tripoli.

_

1.41pm: Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak has denied ordering his security forces to shoot protesters, according to a leaked transcript of his interrogation.

Judicial officials told The Associated Press that the transcript was authentic...

In their entirety, Mubarak's comments appeared designed to fend off charges that he ordered, knew of or condoned the use of deadly force against protesters and paint a picture of a leader kept in the dark by top aides as to the gravity of the situation during the uprising.

Asked to explain why he thought protesters were killed and wounded during the uprising, Mubarak said: "I cannot say exactly." He later added that there was chaos, with the security forces and the protesters attacking each other.

"No one would have paid any attention to me or my orders," he replied when asked why he did not stop the violence.

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and some 40 other members of the so-called Contact Group on Libya will hold their fourth meeting on Friday to support a post-Gaddafi era, boost support to the Libyan main opposition group and plot steps for a political transition.

A Turkish Foreign Ministry official said Thursday nations participating in the fourth Contact Group meeting were expected to discuss a Turkish proposal to end the Libyan crisis despite Gadhafi's refusal to stand down, and to set the stage for a democratic transition. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with the ministry's rule, would not provide details of what Turkey was bringing to the table.

Ankara's plan aims to secure an immediate ceasefire and a deal between Tripoli and Benghazi that would include full access to humanitarian assistance and the Libyan military's withdrawal from major cities. But Turkey's policy zigzags in the last three months have called into question the successful outcome of Ankara's efforts.

3.19pm: The campaign group Avaaz is urging other ambassadors based in Damascus to travel to Syria's protest hotspots in a bid to stop the violent crackdown

Ford's visit to the rebellious city of Hama last week, with the French ambassador Eric Chevallier, provoked a furious reaction from the Syrian government and raids by Assad loyalist on the the French and US embassy's on Monday.

Avaaz called on more ambassadors to follow their Ford and Chevallier's example. Stephanie Brancaforte, campaign director at global campaign organisation Avaaz, said:

Ambassadors in Damascus must mobilise across the country to observe the protesters. Their presence in protest towns and cities could prevent the regime from inflicting further terror and killing innocent protesters. US Ambassador Robert Ford's visit to Hama last week again pierced the Syrian regime's veil of lies - and a wider presence of ambassadors across the country tomorrow will either curb Assad's attempts at widespread repression or bear witness to the cruelty of this ongoing crackdown.

In a press release Avaaz added:

We have identified 26 countries with embassies in Damascus whose presence at protests tomorrow would pose a problem for the Syrian regime. While their governments at the UN security council dither over whether to sanction Assad and refer the violence to the international criminal court for prosecution, ambassadors inside the country can have a direct impact in saving lives.

4.20pm: A source in Damascus said the US ambassador was planning to travel to Deir Ezzor this weekend, but has since decided against it.

4.32pm: At least two people were killed in the eastern Syrian town of Deir Ezzor when the security forces opened fire on protesters, AP reports.

The violence in Deir Ezzor brings the death toll to nine after two days of military operations across the country.

Military sweeps began Wednesday in the capital, the northern Idlib province, the central city of Homs and near the Turkish border. "All the shops have closed, we have announced a general strike, maybe even civil disobedience," said an activist in Deir Ezzor.

The armed groups also forced shop owners to close their shops in the city, terrified families, threatened citizens and destroyed some stores whose owners refused to respond to their demands.

Such report will raise fears that the government is preparing to launch a violent crackdown against the city.

4.45pm: Here's a summary of today's events:

•Syria has warned the US ambassador Robert Ford not to visit any more protest hotspots. An activist group has urged other ambassadors to ignore the warning and show solidarity with the demonstrators by attending Friday rallies across the country. Ford is understood to have abandoned plans to visit protests in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor - the scene of reports of violence today.

• The international contact group on Libya will meet in Istanbul on Friday where it is expected to discuss a Turkish road map for resolving the Libya crisis. The plan is reported to involve a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Gaddafi's forces from major cities. Meanwhile, the Libyan rebels have reinforced to the town of Qawalish after retaking it.

•Yemen's political crisis has led to another run on the banks forcing most commercial banks to close.

• Human Rights Watch has called for the immediate release of an Islamic scholar who was arrested in Saudi Arabia last week after criticising the government in a video message. Dr. Yusuf al-Ahmad was detained without charge a day after the video appeared.